The Evening Jog
by chariots99
Summary: Jake calls it the "evening jog". Desiree says it's a "sprint for your life". So how exactly will Alex Rider cope with the AIS version of the children's game of "Capture the Flag"?...One-Shot, occurs during my story, "NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED"


_Hey all! This is a one-shot of what happens on the "evening jog" in my now finished Fanfic "__Not for the Faint Hearted__". This basically slots in right after Dessi tells Alex about her past._

_Hope it's good!_

**The Evening Jog…**

_Jake turned and left, though not before shouting, "RIDER, SWAN, PHILLIPS, FINLEY,DANIELS! EVENING JOG, NOW! DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU!"_

_Desiree hurried past Alex, though before leaving completely, she turned to the teen and gave him a tentative smile._

"_Thanks Alex." _

* * *

Alex, Dessi, Dean, Terry and Ben met outside the DB. The sun had already set, and it was amazing how much the temperature dropped once the sun was gone. Alex had considered wearing a jumper, before deciding against it. If Jake was chasing them, he'd probably work up a sweat really fast. Plus, he didn't really want the added hindrance a jumper would provide.

Their "evening jog" was anything but a jog. It was apparently a flat-out sprint, in which everyone had to avoid Jake, or the whole lot of them would be in for punishment. Therefore, whenever Jake informed his unit of an "evening jog" the three of them usually spent the rest of their free time coming up with ways to avoid being caught, and to help their fellow team members out of Jake's clutch.

The exercise was based upon a child's game. Each person was given a length of ribbon, white in colour that was about half a metre long. They had to tie the ribbons around their head, securely enough that it wouldn't slip off while they were running, or fall into their eyes. The aim was to keep Jake from getting to your ribbon, or if he does, to get it back. It was quite similar to the game played by children, 'capture the flag', but it reaches a whole new dimension when being played with trained spies. The ribbon could be off your head without you feeling a thing, and by the time you realise it's gone, it'll be all too late. What made it all the worse was the time limit. If they weren't back before, they get to run laps for the entire night.

Jake would also be wearing a length of ribbon; sunny yellow in colour. If anyone could get his ribbon and run back to the DB with it before he caught them, then the group wouldn't be punished if they were back late or if they'd lost their ribbon. There was another aspect to the exercise that wasn't present in the children's version. Physical force was allowed, though not enough to seriously injure someone.

"Okay," Terry said as they huddled together, "This is basically a team building exercise, not each for themselves. Our usual plan is not going to work though, since we have two new people…"

Alex and Ben glanced at each other. Dessi gave Alex a comforting smile, her crystal blue eyes sparkling slightly in the night. Dean remained focused on his field partner, trusting the man to come up with a good plan to avoid the team leader.

"Alright," Terry said after a few seconds, "Here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

The first part of Terry's plan was actually quite simple.

"_Run as fast as you can to put maximum distance between you and Jake."_

The five of them set off at a sprint, their feet hardly making any noise on the hard, water-deprived sand that was their track. They would be given five minutes before Jake made his move. Five minutes to get as far as possible. Five minutes before this demented game of 'capture the flag' truly began.

The first part of the plan went ahead smoothly. There was a feeling of annoyance and injustice between Alex and Ben; they'd been informed that unlike them, Jake could take short-cuts, so he could cut them off, overtake them or sneak up on them while they followed the long cursed path.

"And…time," Terry muttered, glancing at his illuminated watch. Dessi stiffened slightly, and the rest of them sped up as much as they could. Jake was out, and had probably already guessed the first part of their plan. He would be making a beeline for where he guessed the five of them were, and as Dean had said, Jake was not the leader for no good reason. There was no way he'd miss them.

"Split," Dessi whispered. Terry nodded his agreement.

The five of them split; Terry and Dean kept running forwards as fast as they could, Dessi cut her lap wider as she moved further to the right into the surrounding trees and Alex and Ben hung back for a while. They made a huge semi-circle, big enough so that they couldn't see the others, but small enough to hear the distress signal and rush in to help.

Alex ran, matching Ben's longer stride as best as he could. The two kept their footfalls as quiet as they could, not willing to be the first ones Jake went after. Alex and Ben were under strict instructions not to talk, not to whisper, not even to breathe if they could. Apparently, Jake had the hearing of an owl.

Dessi sprinted as fast as she could. She knew from past experience that, due to her height, she needed two strides to match one of Dean's. She also knew that Jake targeted her first, since he knew her better than anyone else on the unit. They'd all been taught how to minimise noise while they ran, so the girl was able to make barely any noise as she dodged the trees and avoided loose sticks and dry leaves that littered parts of the floor. All the while, she kept her ears peeled for both any distress calls, as well as Jake's almost non-existent footsteps.

Terry and Dean ran, fast. They were setting the pace. The others were behind them. If they broke formation, the plan wouldn't work. Their plan was based solely on the fact that Jake always targeted his field partner first. If he went for the others, hopefully they'd all know the correct distress calls. Otherwise they were all screwed.

Alex squinted through the darkness. He thought he saw a shadow moving towards where Dessi should approximately be. Maybe he was imagining-no! There it was again!

Alex slowed slightly. Ben glanced at him before following suit. The two MI6 agents tensed, waiting for the distress call. The shadow was moving again, making no noise. It didn't seem to realise that the two of them were following.

Terry and Dean heard a slight rustle behind them. Dean glanced around in time to see what he thought was a black shadow cross into the trees, headed to where Dessi should be. Dean slowed, reaching out to tap Terry. The two AIS agents kept jogging, waiting.

Suddenly the trees lit with a single birdcall. The distress signal!

Alex and Ben closed in on where the sound was coming from. Hearing a scuffle ahead, they ducked behind the nearest trees. Alex peeked out and saw Dessi darting from tree to tree, keeping up her call while doing her best to avoid her field partner. Jake moved extremely fast for someone so tall. He almost matched the shorter girl in speed, just a step behind her as she flitted around.

An extremely quiet whistle sounded. That was Terry's reply to the distress call. Ben cupped his hands around his mouth and blew, producing a single hollow note. Then another quiet whistle signalled the beginning of the third part of Terry's plan.

Alex scooted up the tree which he and Ben were hiding behind. Ben picked up a fallen stick, and stuck it into the ground so that it was sticking vertically up. That was the mark of where Alex was hiding. Then Ben produced another hollow note, and Desiree began sprinting towards the sound.

Jake caught up to her half way, and grabbed her around the waist with one arm while ripping the ribbon off her head with the other. He had just let the girl go when Terry raced past, yanking the ribbon out of Jake's triumphant hand and throwing it at Dean. The three of them ran, throwing Dessi's piece of ribbon back and forth, leading Jake on a slightly round-about route towards Alex's tree.

This part of the plan had been devised by Alex's observation that no-one ever looked up when searching, least of all while they're distracted. The boy currently hung upside down from the lowest branch, his legs being the only thing keeping him off the ground. Currently he had his arms tucked firmly around his stomach, waiting until the moment Jake was directly below his hiding spot.

Ben ducked behind another tree, waiting.

Dessi, Terry and Dean came into view, the three of them still throwing Dessi's piece of ribbon around. Jake was close behind them, though he looked a little tired from the chase. His fellow unit spotted the upside down Alex and made a beeline for the tree. When they reached it, they began running in circles around the tree's ancient trunk, tossing the white piece of ribbon around. Jake ran after it for a few seconds before realising that they exchanged the ribbon at one particular spot. The unit leader darted for the spot, unknowingly placing himself directly beneath Alex. As the ribbon came around again, Jake dived for it.

But not before Alex made his move. It was a good thing that Jake was so tall, otherwise Alex may not have been able to grab his sunny yellow ribbon. As it was, the boy had to stretch for it before Jake dived. But the teenage spy did get it. As soon as his fingers closed around it and lifted it from Jake's head, Alex threw it at Ben as hard as he could, before flipping down from the tree and scampering away, behind Jake's back.

Ben caught the ribbon, turned and sprinted for his life. He paused slightly to allow Alex to catch up, then the two set off again as fast as they could.

Dessi, Terry and Dean all saw the success of the taking, and scrambled before Jake realised his ribbon was gone. The unit leader was left by himself, Dessi's white ribbon still in his hand. He looked around, slightly confused, before realisation dawned on his face.

Quickly he reached up to his head. The ribbon, his sunny yellow ribbon, was gone.

_Damn!_ He thought, furious, as he set of after the rest of his unit and Alex and Ben. _They're getting good! I didn't feel a thing!_

Jack arrived back at the DB to see the Desiree, Alex, Terry, Ben and Dean waiting in front of the doorway. Upon seeing their unit leader, Alex, Terry, Ben and Dean broke into giant grins. Dessi's mouth widened into a smirk, a gloating, triumphant smirk, her crystal blue eyes alight in the dark.

Ben raised his arm and held aloft the sunny yellow ribbon like a trophy.

Jake sighed.

"Fine. Go back to bed, the lot of you," he said, conceding defeat.

* * *

_So, did you like it? It's actually harder to write one-shots; or at least, for me._

_Anyways, was it good? Was it utter rubbish? Did you want to burn me at the stake? Tell me in a __**Review!!!**_

_**Anonymous reviews accepted!!!**__ I just won't be able to personally reply._

_I've started working on the sequel to __Not for the Faint Hearted__. I think I'll call it __What doesn't kill you Inevitably tries again__…but the title is a work in progress. If you like the title, tell me!_

_Okay, hope to hear from you in a review!_

_Love Chariotss99_


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